NFL Player News

Jones will undergo surgery to have a pin removed from his left pinky finger Tuesday, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Jones had surgery to address a broken finger back in mid-December, and he'll now undergo another procedure to fully address the issue. After returning from his initial surgery, he was able to play through his finger injury, though he did subsequently miss time due to COVID-19 protocols and a quad contusion, ultimately playing second fiddle to Leonard Fournette during Tampa Bay's playoff run. Jones should remain on track for the tentative start of offseason workouts, and with Fournette on track to become an unrestricted free agent in March, Ke'Shawn Vaughn could end up being his primary competition for the No. 1 backfield spot.

Barner (groin) returned seven kickoffs for 167 yards and ran back 13 punts for 75 yards across six games during the 2020 regular season. He logged just six snaps from scrimmage, failing to bring in his only target.

The veteran back saw minimal action on offense for the third time in his last four stops, plying his trade as a full-time return man when not on the Buccaneers' practice squad. Barner also dealt with a concussion and a groin injury, the latter which landed him on injured reserve in late December and ultimately kept him sidelined through the team's postseason run. The 31-year-old also served a four-game suspension for violation of the NFL's Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances during the majority of October and early November, making it an eventful year. Jaydon Mickens also performed well in a returner capacity for Tampa Bay and finished the year in that role, and as a younger option, he presumably has the upper hand on Barner if a decision came down to bringing just one of them back into the fold in 2021.

Despite referring to Swift as a three-down back, Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn said Wednesday that he wants to find "someone else to go with him," Chris Burke of The Athletic reports.

A 2020 second-round pick, Swift showcased three-down ability as a rookie, averaging 4.6 yards per carry and 6.3 yards per target while scoring 10 touchdowns on 160 touches. He should be locked in as Detroit's lead back under a new coaching staff, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll elevate to a 20-touch-per-week, RB1-type workload. While he was head coach for the Chargers, Lynn typically split snaps and touches between two or three backs, with his teams regularly ranked near the top of the league in percentage of targets (and fantasy points) going to running backs. Granted, Lynn's teams sometimes had both Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler available out of the backfield, while Detroit's options behind Swift appear questionable. Lynn's comments suggest he isn't too excited about Adrian Peterson (an impending free agent) or Kerryon Johnson, who has one year left on his rookie contract.

Williams recorded 119 carries for 505 yards and two touchdowns and 31 receptions for 236 yards and another score over 14 games in 2020.

Williams didn't find the end zone as frequently as he did in 2019, but he essentially matched his production in both the yardage and yards per touch departments while topping 700 yards from scrimmage for the third time in four seasons. He isn't flashy, but he has gotten the job done and has proven himself as an effective complement to Aaron Jones. Both players will be free agents this offseason, and it remains to be seen if either will return to Green Bay. Wherever he winds up, Williams is unlikely to play a lead role, but if he at least gets the opportunity to split the work in the backfield, he'll be worthy of consideration in 2021 fantasy drafts.

Dillon recorded 46 carries for 242 yards and two touchdowns and two receptions for 21 yards over 11 appearances in 2020.

Dillon played a bit role for most of the season, and he missed five games following a positive test for COVID-19. However, the 2020 second-round pick averaged a healthy 5.3 yards per carry over the course of the season, and he shined in his one extended opportunity, tallying 124 yards and two scores on the ground in the Packers' Week 16 victory over the Titans. It will be tough to determine Dillon's 2021 role without knowing if free agents Aaron Jones and/or Jamaal Williams will return to Green Bay, but if neither comes back, Dillon will presumably find himself atop the depth chart -- a spot that has been rather fantasy-friendly since head coach Matt LaFleur arrived in town.

Vaughn, who was a healthy scratch for Sunday's Super Bowl LV win over the Chiefs, finished his rookie season with 26 carries for 109 yards and five receptions (10 targets) for 34 yards and a touchdown over 10 games. He also lost a fumble.

The rookie approached his first pro training camp with hopes of pushing Ronald Jones for playing time, but the subsequent signings of LeSean McCoy and Leonard Fournette largely derailed those plans. Vaughn ultimately logged 99 snaps from scrimmage and an additional 37 on special teams, so he did have a chance to get some valuable reps under his belt despite the crowded running back room. With McCoy unlikely to return in 2021 and Fournette likely having earned himself a fairly robust payday on the open market with his strong four-game postseason run, Vaughn may have an exponentially busier sophomore campaign while competing alongside Jones.

Walter signed a one-year contract with the 49ers on Monday, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports.

Walter was set to be an exclusive-rights free agent in March, but he's locked down security for the 2021 campaign. The 24-year-old suited up in four games with the Niners last year, rushing once for three yards and catching his lone target for 27 yards.

Williams, who opted out of the 2020 campaign, is expected to return for the Chiefs and play next season, Charles Goldman of USA Today reports.

Williams and right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif are both expected to return for Kansas City in 2021 after both opted out of the team's 2020 campaign. With Clyde Edwards-Helaire coming off a solid rookie season, in which he managed 1,100 yards from scrimmage in 13 games, Williams looks likely to be No. 2 on the depth chart in his age-29 campaign, but he certainly boasts the skill set to succeed in a change-of-pace role. With Le'Veon Bell set to hit free agency, Williams' strongest offseason competition likely will come from Darrel Williams, who saw a season-high seven targets in Super Bowl LV.

Williams compiled two rushes for five yards and a pair of receptions on seven targets for 10 yards in Super Bowl LV versus the Buccaneers.

It was a rough night all around for the Chiefs' passing attack, and Williams was no exception to the rule. On a positive note, he turned in a season-high target count in the biggest game of the year, though a lot of the designed screens were read well by the Tampa Bay defense and resulted in grounded balls. The 25-year-old back enters the offseason as a restricted free agent, so the Chiefs will have the final say on whether or not he's in a Kansas City uniform next season.

Jones rushed 12 times for 61 yards and failed to bring in his only target during the Buccaneers' 31-9 win over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV on Sunday.

As was the case through the Buccaneers' divisional-round and conference-championship wins, Jones played a complementary role to Leonard Fournette, although he did trail his teammate in carries by only four. The third-year back may have never ceded the lead-back role to Fournette had he not been felled by a quadriceps contusion during warmups before a wild-card game against Washington, but Jones still averaged 4.0 yards per carry over the three postseason games he played in. Moreover, Jones just narrowly missed his first 1,000-yard season by 22 yards despite missing two games, and he also set a new career high with seven rushing touchdowns. With Fournette set for unrestricted free agency in March, Jones may find himself battling Ke'Shawn Vaughn for the starting running back job next season.